The elder Dong is one of more than 140 people injured in a deadly attack Saturday night when ten knife-wielding assailants stormed the Kunming Railway Station in southwestern China, seemingly hacking at anyone in sight and killing at least 29 people.

The U.S. State Department has condemned the attack, calling it a "horrific, senseless act of violence" in a statement. Chinese President Xi Jinping has pledged to "severely punish the terrorists in accordance with the law."

Authorities have responded by intensifying their crackdown on suspected Islamic separatists, including the arrest last month of prominent Uyghur scholar Ilham Tohti. The killings in Kunming -- a city of more than six million residents, known for its mild weather and leisurely pace -- shocked the nation and occurred at a particularly sensitive time as Chinese lawmakers are set to start their annual session Wednesday to hear the first government work report under President Xi's leadership.

Far away from Beijing but a short drive from Dong's hospital is a small, nameless street in front of the massive Kunming Railway Station. Lined with supermarkets, restaurants and a post office, it was again bustling with passengers hauling luggage Sunday afternoon, the blood stains in the area already washed away.

Uniformed police, SWAT teams and paramilitary troops patrolling the station's sprawling ground regularly passed the street on foot and in cars. Food sellers on the sidewalk exchanged details they had seen or heard about the carnage.

The most heartbreaking moment for Hu came later, however. Her 3-year-old grandson, after witnessing the horror, told her he was too scared to sleep.

Across Chinese cyberspace, stories of the perpetrators not sparing children or the elderly during their killing spree have spread quickly and stirred the strongest emotions. In social media, some users' attempts to reflect on the root causes -- including waves of Han migration into Xinjiang and the treatment of Uyghurs in their native land -- to the latest terror were quickly drowned out by the overwhelming sound of fury.

Chang, the shop owner, admitted he'd never given much thought to Xinjiang separatists. After the attack Saturday night, however, he's not sure what can be done to stop them for one simple reason.

"When they started hacking at people, they were already prepared to die," he said. "They are not afraid to die."